About Tuan Le

Name

Tuan Le

Current Residence

Birth Place

Paris
, FR

Tuan Le was born in Paris but raised in Kansas City and Los Angeles. He attended California State University at Northridge as a Finance major.

In a one year period bridging 2004-2005, he had six in the money finishes including two first place finishes with major pots; this leaves one no choice but to conclude that Tuan Le is winning through skill. Indeed, he is widely regarded among his fellow professionals as one of the world's most aggressive No-Limit Hold'em players.

Tuan names Barry Greenstein as his principal poker mentor. In fact, he credits Barry's book, "Aces on the River," of which he received an advanced copy from the author himself, as the main factor in his development as a money-winner on the tournament circuit.

To achieve his huge victory in the final event of the third season of the World Poker Tour, Tuan survived a field of 452 players. At the final table, he saw Phil Ivey, Rob Hollink, and John Phan get knocked out, leaving him to play against Hasan Habib and Paul Maxfield. Tuan then got all the way down to $100,000, whereas the other two had over $10 million; his situation appeared hopeless. Tuan, however, is not a quitter; he didn't wait for pocket rockets before making a move to amass chips. Instead, he persevered and sent Hasan Habib packing.

Shana Hiatt then brought the first place prize money to the final table as one of the last gestures of her career as a World Poker Tour representative. In the end, Paul went all-in with K-5 and was called at once by Tuan, who showed Kd-Jd. The flop showed J-10-3, giving Tuan the lead with a pair of jacks. The turn showed a queen, which was no help to Paul, and the river showed a 7, giving Tuan his second WPT victory of the season. In addition to his $2,856,150 winnings, he earned a $25,000 seat in next season's championship event.

Tuan Le photos

Player analysis

7.3/10

Aggressiveness

8

Looseness

9

Limit

7

No-Limit

7

Side Games

7

Steam Control

5

Against Strong Players

7

Against Weak Players

7

Tournaments

8

Short-Handed

8

Player analysis

Tuan is a fierce player who will only get better. He won two WPT titles where people saw him get lucky, so he is often considered a wild player who got lucky a couple of times. In fact, he is one of the best players in the world and he is very adept at discovering and exploiting weaknesses in his opponents. However, he is still somewhat undisciplined. Tuan claims that he has made every money-management mistake that is mentioned in Ace on the River.

Amusing Anecdote

Tuan went to Foxwoods in 2004 to play in the final event. Not surprisingly, he lost the $14,000 he brought with him shooting dice. He wanted to fly back home, but the nearby airports were snowed in. My girlfriend offered to lend him money for the entry. Even though Tuan needed the money, he turned down the loan because he hates to impose on other people, including his friends.

Hasan Habib borrowed $3,000 from Ted Forrest to put himself, Tuan, and Mohammed Ibrahim into the last $1,000 satellite. Hasan asked for 25% of Tuan’s action in exchange for Tuan owing him $500. Tuan went on to win a seat in the main event and then bested a field of 674 players to capture the $1.55 million first prize.

Tuan took his share in cash, since he didn’t have a bank account. He bought a duffel bag at the gift shop and then took a limo to New York with his friends, so he could catch the next flight out. Hasan stayed in New York, but Thor Hansen and Nam Le accompanied Tuan to JFK airport.

When they went through security, Tuan was asked what was in the bag. He told them he had over $1 million in cash. They laughed at the obvious joke, but stopped laughing when the bag was opened.

Tuan and his friends were allowed on the plane without much hassle, much to their surprise. When they arrived in Long Beach, they were immediately greeted by the FBI. Tuan showed them a printout with his picture, which told of his tournament win. After many questions and verification with the Foxwoods Casino, Tuan and his friends were released after being detained for over an hour.

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